La couleur pourpre

The Color Purple novel is one of the greatest pieces of American literature. The film adaptation a masterpiece worth of a 10/10.

What is presented in this iteration of the novel and the film, a musical version has to be one of the worst musicals to ever be adapted to film.

There original film has musical numbers that are magical and memorable. That elevate the story and bring a soul and substance. This musical version has no memorable moments. The strongest being 'Hell, No" which unfortunately lands flats. Fantasia's 'I'm Here' is another powerful track but gets lost in the mix of what are essential filler tracks that have been through the Disneyfication machine. The musician H. E. R. Barely gets to offer her incredible voice to the ensemble.

The story plods along at times incoherently. The rawness of the novel, left out presumably to making it 'family friendly' which is a major mistake. The rawness of this story, or this novel, of these iconic and remarkable characters is the foundation of the entire point of why the colour of Purple is so important as an analogy of God and His Grace.

Each actor shines, but the direction is so lost these incredible actors moments get lost with them. It's hard not to keep one's memory from harking back to the powerful performances from the original film. Nothing can erase the majesty of that film.

A very disappointing outcome that just leads to the conclusion that this musical project just doesn't work.

It's certainly possible that the core story of The Colour Purple just doesn't do anything for me. Because I'm not a huge fan of Spielberg's movie either but at least I thought it was a consistent vision. It may have devolved into misery porn for me after a while but at least it was tonally consistent misery porn. That's not something I can say for this new movie because I can't remember the last time I felt this much tonal whiplash watching a film.

Because the choice to tell this story as a musical wasn't entirely successful for me. Because for as well produced and performed as these sequences are they are in constant clash with the overwhelmingly heinous actions taken against these characters. These women can go from experiencing physical, lawful and sexual abuse only for the filmmakers to jarringly cut to a highly choreographed, energetic musical sequence. It rarely feels smooth and it constantly makes the film feel as if it's at war with itself for what it wants to be.

Those sequences really are gorgeously produced and performed to their credit though as is the entire film. All though often to its detriment, there's energy through every single performance and shot in this film and I really appreciate that they didn't revert to the bare minimum of shot/reverse shot even for even simple dialogue scenes. But for as incredible as these performances are, character wise this script personally left a lot to be desired.

It makes sense that this main character is as passive as she is given the abuse she suffers but it took too long for her arc to come to fruition. Because the only time she ever takes any agency is through other characters. This might work for where she starts the film but it just robs the character of any real development. Supporting characters are constantly swooping in to make her important life choices for her, rather than having her actually receiving any growth of her own, by the time she finally starts making her own choices not only does it feel unearned but also far too late in the film to feel satisfying.

The resolution of her character arc might've been unearned but it pales in comparison to how these male abusers are treated. The husband characters played, admittedly very well, by Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins are portrayed as abusive to quite honestly ridiculous levels. Domingo's character is basically just portrayed as evil with almost no nuance or depth and Hawkins is written as wholly ignorant in a way that could've made sense but the entire resolution to those characters totally fumbles their entire arcs. There are elements of generational trauma given but it's not explored nearly deeply enough to justify their actions.

The script makes them horrific abusers from almost their very introduction and in the third act the filmmakers have the gall to try and redeem them. Not only does it fall totally flat but I actually found it fairly insulting as a viewer. Forgiveness should have limits but at the very least it should make sense from a writing perspective. Nothing in the first two acts gives any sense that these characters deserve redemption, nor that any other character would forgive them, and it made a large part of the last third totally infuriating to watch.

The Colour Purple was a frustrating experience for me. I may not totally connect with this story but I had far too many issues from a writing perspective to give the film the benefit of the doubt. It is an extremely well produced version of a deeply flawed script. It's completely lacking in depth or nuance and it's totally eye rolling in how it depicts the trauma of it's characters. Musical's are totally capable of dealing with dark subject matters but it's all down to tone and it honestly felt like this script had no barring on how it wanted to portray this story.

Greetings again from the darkness. It all began with Alice Walker's 1982 novel, for which she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Shortly thereafter, Steven Spielberg turned it into the movie event of 1985, with a memorable cast including Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and yes, Oprah Winfrey. The film received eleven Oscar nominations, yet was shut out in all categories. Jumping ahead 20 years (2005), Marsha Norman created a musical stage book that turned into a smash hit on Broadway, receiving eleven Tony nominations. It was 2015 when the musical revival hit the stage, re-establishing the story as part of the fabric of the entertainment world. Along the way, Ms. Walker's book had been frequently banned and censored, and the adaptations were sure to pick and choose what to cover and how to do so. Here we are forty-one years after the book's publication, and director Blitz Bazawule (Beyonce's BLACK IS KING, 2020) delivers a moving and bold film version (screenplay by Marcus Gardley) based on the musicals, the novel, and the original film.

The film opens on the Georgia coast in 1909 by establishing the bond between young Celie (newcomer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) and her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey, THE LITTLE MERMAID). When the two are forcefully separated, Celie loses the hope Nettie always provided, and soon she's living a miserable existence as one abused by Mister (a powerful Colman Domingo, RUSTIN) who treats her poorly by regularly taking out his frustrations. Assuming the role she made her own on Broadway is Fantasia Barrino as adult Celie, whose presence and spirit contain the heart of the story.

Memorable characters and performances are everywhere we turn in this production. Danielle Brooks ("Orange is the New Black") is a powerhouse as Sophia, a role she also owned on stage. Sophia is wife to Harpo (Corey Hawkins, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON), one of the few men trying to break the tradition of abuse ... not that he has much choice. Taraji B Henson is a jolt of energy as singer Shug Avery, one of the few women from this neck of the woods who gained independence and made a life (mostly) on her terms.

The supporting cast is filled with talent and surprises. David Allen Grier appears as Reverend Avery, Shug's estranged dad. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (ORIGIN) appears in flashbacks as Celie's Mama. Elizabeth Marvel ("Homeland") is the unforgiving and racist wife of the Mayor, and one who has such an impact on Sophia's life. Oscar winner Lou Gossett Jr (now 87 years old) shows us exactly how his son Mister turned out the way he did. As this is a musical, we would expect musicians to play a part, though it's quite a treat to see H. E. R. As Squeak (Harpo's girlfriend), Jon Batiste as Grady (Shug's fashionable husband), and Ciara in a critical appearance as grown-up Nettie. There is also a well-placed cameo early on that harkens back to Spielberg's movie.

Covering at least the decades of 1907 through 1945, we see how each character changes depending on their circumstances ... especially Celie and Sophia, as well as an attempt at redemption by Mister. At least three 'showstopper' songs are included here. Taraji B Henson offers a rousing "Push da Button", and Danielle Brooks is adamant about where she stands with "Hell No." Fantasia Barrino's "I'm Here" may be the highlight since it encapsulates her resilience and perseverance. The quality of the film is evident in all aspects: cinematography (Dan Laustsen), score (Kris Bowers), Production and Set Design (Oscar winner Paul D Austerberry, Larry Dias), and Costumes - especially Shug Avery's - (Francine Jamison Tanchuk, Rashad Corey). Serving as Producers are Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Alice Walker, and Scott Sanders, to name a few with long time ties to the story. It's clearly a labor of love and passion for those involved, and ends with a tear-jerker reunion over Easter dinner. Not many follow the production trek of novel to film to musical to musical revival to musical film, and even fewer have ever done it this well.

Opens in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.

It's a decent new adaptation of The Color Purple with gorgeous production designs, solid direction and good performances from the cast members. Director Blitz Bazawule does a solid work on handling the tone and setting alongside with the production sets, costumes, and camerawork being really colorful and beautiful. The musical singing moments, while some of the musical tracks weren't great, were solid with some pretty good lyrics and musical tones explored. Many of the performances were pretty good as there wasn't a single poor performance.

Since I have read the book and seen the first adaptation from Steven Spielberg which I really liked, I felt the emotional core and writing isn't as strong as it could be as there were some elements that felt thin and could have been explored a bit more. Since this is based on the broadway version, I haven't seen the broadway version so that might explain the disconnection. There were some pacing issues and some of the dialogue moments were a little odd. Overall, it's a decent adaptation but I prefer to watch Steven Spielberg's version.

My Rating 6.5/10

I'm a as huge fan of Broadway musicals only a few transfer successfully when they are adapted to the cinema screen .

I didn't get to see the stage version of this musical so I can't comment except to say in my opinion this adaptation although brimming with a very talented cast didn't really work for me .

I read that 13 songs were cut from the original Broadway stage version so it can hardly be considered an authentic version of the Broadway musical .

The composer of the additional music for this movie Kris Bowers has added a few pleasant but forgettable songs .

I felt this version of the original story by Marsha Norman was disjointed missing the emotional aspect of the 1985 movie and that the songs in the movie interrupted the flow of the story.

It's the same story of a black Southern woman Celie struggling to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and abusive husband over four decades .

Celie with the help of her sisters and an unexpected inheritance escape her abusive husband and is reunited with her stolen children.

I felt the emotional impact was trivialised or diminished a little by adding music and songs to the mix.

The ensemble cast is impressive headed by Fantasia Barrino as Celie the role that Whoopi Goldberg who has a cameo in this version received a Best Actress Oscar nomination in 1986. The role of Sophia played excellently in this version by Danielle Brooks also earned Oprah Winfrey an Oscar nomination in 1986 for her portrayal of Sophia.

Other impressive performances from Taraji P. Henson as the flamboyant Shug Avery and Colman Domingo as the menacing Mister helped make The Colour Purple entertaining for me .

Oprah Winfrey is co producer with Steven Spielberg who directed the 1986 version.

This version directed by Blitz Bazawule cost an estimated $USD 100,000,000 to bring to the screen .

The original 1986 version cost an estimated $15,000,000 and was a huge success grossing $ 98,500,000 it will be interesting to see how the musical film version performs at the box office.

The Colour Purple musical version for me was like attending an Evangelical Baptist revival meeting where sinners repent and are miraculously transformed ,it's a little too preachy for me.